That's Weird
by TheBagelBug
Summary: It was weird. Everyone thought so, even them. They weren't supposed to be friends. They weren't supposed to get close. Seriously, how did this happen?


**A/N: So I like to see characters that people don't think go to together get together. I don't think I'm alone in this so for all those like me, I hope you enjoy this. I really enjoy writing the dynamic between these two. I hope you all like reading it!**

**And just FYI, I started writing this between the first and second seasons so I haven't taken anything from the second season into account here. I don't think it's crucial, but just so no one is confused… that's why Rachel is bringing up Jenny and stuff with her and Mike. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Suits.**

* * *

**Prologue**

Running through Central Park, tears forming in her eyes; head aching, feet pounding on the concrete making it worse. Her ears were plugged with headphones emitting music she wasn't able to focus on. Her chest was heaving as she struggled to take in air.

_He's an ass_, she thought. She ran faster.

That damn Mike Ross thinking he could flirt with her constantly, use her for her paralegal expertise whenever he felt like it, and then inviting her – no, begging her...damn near demanding she double date with him and his stick figure girlfriend.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ She could still feel the ghost of his lips on hers.

And then it was too much. Her legs were shaking. Her chest was too tight. She tumbled over to the grass and fell to her hands and knees. She didn't even have the energy to care about how she must have looked to other people.

"Rachel!"

She heard her name like it was coming from the opposite end of a long tunnel. Then an ear bud was ripped from her head by a foreign hand. The same hand positioned itself on her back. Her name was yelled again. She turned her head and looked up to find the last person she wanted to see – well, second to last.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Harvey freaking Specter.

_Oh, world, swallow me whole. Please._

* * *

**Chapter One: At First**

"Morning Miss Zane," Harvey greeted kindly.

The paralegal, walking a few steps ahead of him, turned at his unusually chipper tone. She was nervous about what he might say to her about the other day. She had been a mess. She hated how she had all but crumbled before him.

"Harvey," she returned cautiously with a nod. "Having a good morning?"

He smirked but didn't answer as his long strides allowed him to fall into step with her.

"I know Louis is making you work on the Guilden briefs but if you get a chance today I need you to take a look at some papers Harold worked up for me."

They had arrived at her office and at her confused expression he stopped rather than continuing on his way to his own desk.

"You had _Harold_ work on something?"

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Mike was unreachable and I needed it done. Believe me, I won't be trusting him with anything else anytime soon. Come by my office if you get the chance." He turned his back on her, striding toward his office. "If you don't, it'll be homework for Mike tonight."

"Then I wouldn't expect to see me," Rachel called after him.

She didn't get to see his amused smile.

Jenny showed up at the office one night to surprise Mike as he was just finishing up his workday. Rachel was still there. Of course. She _had_ to be there. The one time Jenny decides to make an unannounced visit, Rachel had to be there. There had been a moment earlier that day when Rachel had considered going home. She didn't really _have_ to keep working, but if she kept working, she'd have one less thing to do the next day. Besides, it's not like she had _plans_. Plans required a social life of which she had none. If she had just gone home...if she wasn't such a workaholic...she wouldn't have seen them kissing and holding hands as they made their way to the elevator.

It had stopped her dead in her tracks. The sudden pain, the clenching in her stomach, the breaking of her heart. Only when Mike and Jenny were out of sight in the elevator was she able to move, to turn around. But when she turned around _he_ was there. Harvey freaking Specter in his immaculate three piece suit. His eyes flickered from the closing elevator doors to hers. He was still as well, but he wasn't hurting like she was. He was witnessing – _observing_. Wasn't one emotional breakdown in front of him enough?

She pivoted on her heel and hightailed the hell out of there. He didn't follow. It was the little blessings in life she found herself the most grateful for.

It was going to be a bad night. She had known that going into it. The Banquet was an annual event that she usually looked forward to. This was the first time Mike would be there though. And she knew Jenny would be on his arm. He'd told Rachel that he was bringing her. They still played that cruel game of torturing each other. Sometimes she wondered why they spoke at all when the only words that came out of them tasted and felt like poison.

She had guzzled a glass and a half of wine before leaving her apartment for the evening.

She didn't bring a date. Her strategy was to be free to flirt with anything in a suit. Maybe, just maybe, she could look fantastic enough for Mike to eat his heart out and appear happy enough to make him feel like he meant nothing to her.

She had gone to the bar for a refill when a dark suit entered her peripheral vision. It wasn't Mike. She knew where he was in the large ballroom at all times.

"He keeps looking for you," a deep voice said from the suit.

She turned to see Harvey leaning his back and an elbow causally against the bar top as he sipped his champagne. She didn't respond so he turned his face to hers.

"And you're doing a good job of pretending not to notice him."

She felt her face fall into a scowl.

"What do you care?" she grumbled.

"He's my associate." He shrugged and looked back out to the crowd.

"You know that's not really an answer," she said astutely.

"Yes," he turned, placed his empty flute on the bar and looked her dead in the eye; "I also know that my answer doesn't matter. What does matter" – her eyes lowered as she watched his feet take small steps closer to her. His volume lowered to a gravely whisper – "is that you look damn good in that dress. So good, in fact, that my associate and fifteen others in this room all with dates can't help but let their eyes follow you."

Normally she would have taken a bit of offence to something so flattering coming from a superior. They were not living in _Mad Men _TV land. She was not a nineteen-fifty-something secretary who thought her worth was established only through how attractive men found her. But this was not a normal situation. She'd been drinking. He'd been drinking. And her _stupid _crush was there with his _stupid _girlfriend. She was admittedly a little vulnerable. So a blush – a very deep blush – crept up to her neck and cheeks. She watched as his eyes took in her flattery and embarrassment. What does she say to that?

_Only fifteen?_

"That was kind of the point," she decided. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

He smirked and walked away. She made a beeline for the ladies room. She was suddenly in the very desperate need to dab sweat from her face and neck.

* * *

Rachel had made it halfway home when she realized she had left her phone in the ballroom. She expected to find the ballroom empty save for a few cleanup crew members. She was surprised to see Harvey, Jessica, and a few other partners still sitting at one of the many tables. Apparently though, she had broken up the party because when she was noticed by Jessica, most of the table stood to leave.

"Harvey," Jessica said as she was leaving with the other partners. "Thank you for not being yourself tonight."

"You owe me more than a thank you," he surmised. "If I ever hear Louis talk about his cat again..."

"I'm sure we can figure something out," she chuckled.

"How about my name on the letterhead?" he called out as the doors were closing.

Even Rachel could hear Jessica's laughter from across the ballroom.

"Maybe one day, Harvey," Rachel teased as she walked toward the doors and consequently him now with her cell.

He smirked and nodded to the phone in her hand. "Did you forget something or did you just want to make sure Mike wasn't still here?"

"I just wanted to see if I could make anymore eyes follow me," she answered coyly when she stopped a few feet before him. She felt a lot more confident and charming when she wasn't worried about what she looked like in Mike's eyes.

He gave her a cheeky grin and that's when she saw his eyes quickly take stock of her. He was checking her out – swiftly, but still. She couldn't remember ever having seen him with a bow tie before but it certainly wasn't an affront to her eyes.

"That's a very nice tuxedo," she complemented.

After all, he had told her she looked good in her dress earlier. She was merely reciprocating the gesture. It was her way of saying he looked nice without having to actually say it. Lord knows that man's ego doesn't need any more stroking. It was _Harvey_, though. His smirk at her words told her he knew exactly how God damn good he looked.

* * *

Rachel was working late again. This time she was holed up in archives and, mercifully, she was alone. Until, of course, she wasn't.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Harvey's demanding voice called from behind her.

"Which one?" she joked.

They were talking more. Really, _speaking_. Talking implied connection or substance in conversation. Harvey and Rachel exchanged quips and the occasional pleasantry; it was just happening more frequently as of late than it ever had before. He rarely came by her office to deliver something to her personally – that was Mike's usual errand – but lately Harvey had taken it upon himself to bring her files. She figured it must be his twisted and wacky way of showing he cared...or whatever it is he does. She supposed he didn't want to cause her any emotional turmoil by seeing his associate since he'd seen her so affected by him in the past. To show she appreciated what he was doing, she made a note to personally hand deliver things to him as well.

Harvey sat in the chair next to her and scowled at his phone.

"He's learned a new trick. If he doesn't answer his phone, I can't yell at him," Harvey said.

Rachel smiled and picked up her own cell and dialed Mike's number.

"Hey, are you still at the office?" she asked when he picked up the other line. Harvey turned in his chair and watched as she manipulated Mike. "You might want to get back here. Kyle's sitting at your desk looking at your computer."

Mike grumbled and thanked her, saying he'd be right there to take care of it, before hanging up. Rachel placed her phone down and smiled mischievously.

"Well played," Harvey admitted. "Smart to bring up Kyle. They're – "

"In competition right now," Rachel finished. "I know."

Mike and Kyle had made a bet about solving cases and which of them was better. Almost all the associates were invested in it. Rachel found it mildly amusing but also childish. Or maybe that was just her bias against Mike at the moment.

She began collecting some books off her workspace and putting them away to clear up some of the clutter. Harvey remained seated.

"You'd make a pretty decent lawyer," he commented.

She faltered in her steps as the words seeped through her. That was probably the closest thing to a compliment about her performance that she would ever get out of Harvey Specter.

"Thanks," she replied with a bit of a question in the air. It was almost a backhanded compliment after all. She wouldn't be a good or great lawyer; only a pretty decent one?

"So why aren't you?"

"I'm working on it," she defended indignantly.

He stood and smiled. "Good. Thanks for getting Mike to come in."

"You're welcome." She placed her last book back on its shelf and turned to see him walking up the stairs. "And Harvey?" He looked back. "I'd make a _fantastic_ lawyer. Better than you even," she added boldly.

"You think so?" He moved down a step.

"Yes, I do. One day, it'll be my name on the letterhead."

He smiled and slowly made his way back to her.

"You won't get there before me. For one, I've had a pretty big head start."

"Well, you needed it," she stated simply.

"You do know what they call me, right?" he asked with narrowed eyes. She lifted an eyebrow as he neared her. "The city's best closer," he answered.

"You wouldn't be able to close me," she said with a confidence she wasn't sure she could back.

"I could," Harvey countered with a confidence he most definitely could support.

"Prove it," she challenged. If Rachel Zane was anything, she was stubborn. She should really learn to quit before she's pushed too far.

Harvey's face twitched in amusement as he stood directly in front of her. "Are you flirting with me?" he asked.

"What?" she said shocked. "No, of course not."

"Really?" he said chuckling. "Because it feels like you're flirting with me."

"Well I'm not. Maybe you just _want_ me to be flirting with you," she accused childishly to throw the focus away from her.

"You have been coming to my office more lately," Harvey mused as if still considering her motives.

"You started that!" she cried in defense.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" he agreed, smirking. "Maybe I gave you the wrong idea?"

"I'm not flirting with you," she repeated flatly.

"I need to go wait for Mike." He walked backwards a few steps, moving in the direction of the stairway once more. "You go ahead and keep telling yourself that, Rachel. Just be sure to let me know if our sexual tension ever becomes too much for you."

She scowled, not liking being teased and told she was flirting when she wasn't. She definitely wasn't.

"Yeah? What would you do if it was?" she grumbled. It was meant to be rhetorical. She shuffled back to her table and sat down.

"There are a few different directions I could go with," he said suggestively.

"Now who's flirting with who?" she called as she looked up to him in exasperation.

He was already at the top of the stairs. He smirked before opening the door and disappearing from the room. She let her head fall heavily onto the open book in front of her.

* * *

**A/N: Kind of silly. And perhaps a bit out of character for the both of them…but I feel like there are endless possibilities with these two! Let me know what you think! Where would you like to see this go? Any suggestions on how to keep them more in character? I love feedback, so let me have it!**

**Go review, please!**


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